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This is what a 1,200-hp twin-turbo 4-rotor looks like in a Miata

We've seen the diminutive Mazda MX-5 Miata swallow plenty of big engines, but New Zealand drifting ace "Mad Mike" Whiddett is roaring into where-no-man-has-gone-before territory. Wanting to replace his 515-horsepower "MADBUL" RX-7 and its twin-turbocharged, three-rotor 20B engine, his new ride is an NC-series Miata with four rotors and twin Garrett turbochargers courtesy of Pulse Performance Race Engineering. It is called "RADBUL," and expected power at standard boost is 1,200 hp, but the builders at Pulse Performance think it will get up to 1,500 hp at full boost. And yes, that exhaust exits through the hood. Four-rotor engines are actually popular - builds are detailed on forums like this one from 2007 and this one from 2008, this UK company or this Canadian company will sell you one complete - but they're usually being prepped for an RX-7. Mad Mike's choice of a Miata for this enterprise makes this about as extreme as you can get, short of throwing it into a Mazda R360. You can watch Mad Mike tell the story of the build in the video, and check out the first and second installments about the build on the Red Bull site.

Why we can't have better headlights here in the U.S.

It wouldn't be a European auto show if we weren't teased with at least one mainstream vehicle we can't have here. At the Geneva Motor Show last week, the small but vocal contingent of shooting-brake buffs lamented that the Mazda6 wagon won't be coming to our shores, although they can take comfort in the fact that the vehicle won't get the torquey 250-horsepower 2.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine we'll get here. Mercedes-Benz also announced a new headlight technology in Geneva that likely won't be available here anytime soon. It's just the latest in a long line of innovative and potentially lifesaving front-lighting solutions that the federal government doesn't allow in this country due to outdated standards — and a current lack of leadership at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Mercedes-Benz's new Digital Light system that debuted in Geneva uses a computer chip to activate more than a million micro-reflectors to better illuminate the road ahead. The Digital Light headlamps works with the vehicle's cameras, sensors and navigation mapping to adjust lighting for the given location and situation and to detect other road users. The Digital Light technology also serves as an extended head-up display of sorts by projecting symbols on the pavement ahead to alert drivers to, say, slippery conditions or pedestrians in the road. And it can even project lines on the road in a construction zone or through tight curves to show the driver the correct path. Digital Light will be available on Mercedes-Maybach vehicles later this year, although like any technology it's bound to trickle down to less expensive vehicles. That is, if we ever get it here in the U.S. Audi, a leader in automotive lighting, has repeatedly run into snags trying to bring state-of-the-art car headlights to the U.S. The German luxury automaker's recently introduced matrix laser headlight system, which performs many of the same trick as Mercedes-Benz's Digital Light, also isn't legal on U.S. roads. And five years after the introduction of its matrix-beam LED lighting, which illuminates more of the road without blinding oncoming motorists with brights by simultaneously operating high and low beams, Audi still can't bring that technology to the U.S. either.

Mazda CX-5 diesels get discounts up to $10,000 off MSRP

When Mazda positioned its long-awaited and oft-delayed CX-5 diesel crossover as the “premium” option in the CX-5 trim structure, we were skeptical. After driving one last fall with a $42,045 sticker price, our eyebrows furrowed even deeper. Today, to nobodyÂ’s surprise, Mazda dealers are slapping massive discounts on the Skyactiv-D. CarsDirect initially reported on the discounts, pointing out that some dealers are slashing prices by $10,000. We took a spin through Autotrader to see what was out there, and the results were shocking. There were pages of CX-5 diesels with prices in the low-to-mid $30,000 range. We asked Mazda what kind of incentives it was currently offering on the 2019 CX-5 diesel. Since December, Mazda has offered a $5,000 cash rebate, alongside a 2.9 percent APR for 60 months. However, the other several thousand dollars worth of discounts weÂ’re seeing listed — as much as $5,000 more — are not being accounted for by Mazda.  Just as CarsDirect found, the largest discounts we could find on the web are for a cool $10,000, bringing the price down to $32,045. At that price, youÂ’re looking at a 23.8 percent discount. ThatÂ’s a discount of nearly a quarter(!) of the carÂ’s original asking price. We thought the Skyactiv-D was overpriced originally, but at this price, weÂ’d strongly consider it as the CX-5 to buy. Since the diesel is only offered in the top-of-the-line Signature trim, it has every gizmo and gadget Mazda offers in addition to the most premium interior materials. ItÂ’s also offered in all-wheel drive only, leaving every box with a checkmark in it.  Compared to the gas-engined CX-5 Signature that starts at $38,100 for the 2020 model year, these diesels are a steal. In fact, this price hierarchy makes a lot more sense than the way Mazda had it organized in the first place. The more powerful 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder in the gas-engined Signature can easily be marketed as the most “premium” option in the CX-5 lineup since itÂ’s the fastest and most enjoyable to drive. Moving the slower diesel with the same equipment below it on the food chain sounds like the right move to us. At around $33,000-$35,000, the diesel isnÂ’t such a bad buy anymore. Fuel economy still isnÂ’t where weÂ’d like it to be, but as we opined in our First Drive review, itÂ’s still a wonderfully pleasant car to drive. Related Video: